Background
Deondre Inkton sought a writ of procedendo directing Judge Jennifer O’Donnell to rule on several motions in two Cuyahoga County criminal cases. The motions included requests to preserve communications, withdraw his guilty plea under Crim.R. 32.1, recuse the judge, obtain a prompt ruling, and remit forfeited bail.
Inkton had pleaded guilty in 2025 to trafficking in persons, promoting prostitution, sexual battery, money laundering, and possessing criminal tools, and received an aggregate 30- to 37½-year sentence. The Eighth District affirmed his convictions in February 2026. Judge O’Donnell moved to dismiss the procedendo action, stating that she had ruled on the identified motions on June 11, 2026.
The Court’s Holding
The court granted the motion to dismiss and held that Inkton’s procedendo petition was moot. A writ of procedendo may require a lower court to proceed to judgment when it has refused or unnecessarily delayed doing so, but it cannot compel performance of an act already completed.
Reviewing the publicly available underlying dockets, the court found that Judge O’Donnell had ruled on every motion specifically identified in Inkton’s petition. Inkton therefore had received all relief available through procedendo. The court also noted additional procedural defects, including his failure to pay the filing fee and cost deposit or submit compliant indigency materials, and deficiencies in the caption and service addresses.
Key Takeaways
- A procedendo claim becomes moot once the trial court rules on the motions at issue.
- Procedendo can compel a court to issue a ruling, but cannot dictate the ruling’s substance.
- Original writ actions must also satisfy filing-fee, indigency-affidavit, caption, and service requirements.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces that procedendo provides a narrow remedy for judicial inaction, not a vehicle to challenge the merits or timing of rulings once they have issued. Litigants seeking extraordinary relief should precisely identify unresolved matters and comply with statutory and procedural filing requirements.